My Roommates are Princes! [Complete!]

Chapter 3: Thank you dear Princess

Royal Roommates Chapter 3

I watched as the cheerful prince of Thailand wrapped a bandage around my hand after placing a thin layer of ointment using a q-tip. Although his handiwork was a little messy, it was definitely enough to distract me from Eric’s glowering eyes, who watched us with some strange obsession. He leaned with his back against a white column with a ripped tank top and folded arms.

“Who are you really?” Eric had c****d an eyebrow aggressively. He tossed the album on the ground another time, right at my feet. It opened on a picture of me and my grandmother when I was at the tender age of eight years old. She was the one who had raised me all these years. In the picture I was holding her hand as we stood in front of the wheat fields of our village.

“ERIC BE CAREFUL THAT BOOK STILL MIGHT HAVE GLASS SHARDS!” Chaiya exclaimed with his eyes widening, eyeing my leg to see if a glass shard had gotten into my skin.

“Your real name. Preferably.” Eric added, almost completely ignoring the baby faced Prince.

“My real name is Luisa. Luisa Cardona.” I replied to him.

“That’s a lovely name!” Chaiya had chimed in, finishing the bandage around my hand.

Eric glared at Chaiya. “Then where is the real Princess Emerald?”

“I have no idea. “ I pulled my hand closer to myself. “At the time I had left for my mission, we still had no idea where the Princess was or if she was even alive. There was evidence she had left the country with the King but even that, we have no evidence of. I’m sorry.”

“And how long would your mission be? You seem to have it quite easy. All you have to do is lounge around and act all high and mighty.” Eric approached me. I could feel the heat of his anger surrounding me pretty quickly.

“Y-Yeah….I guess. I have no idea how long it would be….Probably just until we locate the real Princess.” I added.

Eric began to laugh, pulling a chair right next to me. He grabbed my chin and forced my neck in his direction. “Don’t pretend to be so unhappy….we all know you enjoy this lifestyle….being the richest princess in the world……living with the most famous and beloved princes in the world…who wouldnt?! You wish the Princess was never found too.”

My cold expression hadn’t changed and I pulled my face away. “It makes me uncomfortable that you would think about another person like that. I may not be very fond of the Princess myself but I want her to be found so I can return to my grandmother’s side already.”

Duke walked into the room with a sigh. “Your the only person in the world who doesn’t see how Princess’ Emerald’s disappearance is affecting everyone.”

“Felipe can suck it. That suck up was so blinded by his love for her…he couldn’t see any piece of reality.” Eric clenched his fists at the thought before turning back to his room in an angry fit.

“Don’t mind him.” Duke said. “He doesn’t particularly like Princess Emerald.”

I tilted my head. “Why not?”

“He believes that he lost someone because of her.” Duke replied, rather nonchalantly. “No matter, the past is the past. You should head to your rooms now and that includes you, Chaiya. I don’t think the King of Thailand would be very happy to see you staying up late to finish your games instead of your studies.”

Chaiya sighed. “I already finished my studies…..” He slumped down in his chair.

“Then it would be in your best interest to get some rest.” Duke adjusted his glasses as he watched the Thai Prince slowly get up from his seat, throwing one last angry glare at Duke before shutting his bedroom door.

“Don’t make me have to remind you too.” Duke had turned to me mercilessly. “Wounds heal better when you are well rested.”

I sighed in agreement and headed back to my own room that was now cleaned up.

As he passed by in the hallways, I had poked my head out the door saying “Thank you for cleaning, Duke.” Before closing the door for the night without having much time to guess what his expression must have been.

~~~~~

Over the course of the next couple of days, Chaiya had seemed to be more interested in me than he had before, upon knowing that I was not princess but a poor farmer girl who was just blessed enough to be the Princess’ doppelgänger.

It wasn’t much of a surprise when the white suited boy had sat down next to me in history instead of with Duke, who had been left alone in the front with a vacant seat next to him. My “four usual friends” had entered the room with their purses in hand, finding it strange that I was sitting wit the Prince of Thailand.

Chaiya had waved to them as they entered with their rather envious faces and then he immediately turned back to me. “I was wondering…..” He began as I pulled out my textbook for this class.

“Hm? What is it Chaiya?”

“Do you think you could be my friend?!” He grabbed both my hands with bright sparkling eyes. “You remind me so much of my elder sister!”

“Of course, Chaiya.” I smiled. “I would love to be your friend.” This was probably the first truth I had told in a while, being completely taken by his bright personality which overshone the angry girls in the back, who had been obsessing over Chaiya’s babyface just the day before.

~~~~~

Of course, it wasn’t long before the four of them had joined me as I exited from the hallways. The moment Chaiya had waved goodbye and turned the opposite direction, they immediately pestered me.

“Have you slept with him yet?” The blonde girl had asked.

“What?” I looked at her, shocked with her question. “No.” I replied coldly.

“Come on, you guys LIVE together!” The red head had added.

“And I live with Felipe and Eric and I’m not in a relationship with them either. I’m just Chaiya’s friend.” I said watching as their faces glowered at me.

“Wow, it’s so unlike you not to make moves on the first guy you see….” The girl with the hyena laugh had rolled her eyes.

“At least it means Felipe and Eric are single!~” The girl with the red hair had sang, pulling out an empty contact page on her phone and holding it up to my face. “Why don’t you be a dear friend and give me their numbers please!” She forcefully shoved her phone directly into my face.

“Oh my god ew it’s Duke!” The purple haired girl said with disgust, pulling her purse in front of her and stepping forward right into the blond as the bespeckled boy walked out from the classroom behind her. By his side was Analyn, the Filipino girl with the frizzy hair whom I had seen before in the cafeteria. As she caught notice of the four girls surrounding me, she began to cower behind a pink notebook.

“Ignore them.” Duke had blocked our view of her with his body as if to shield our insults towards her for the time being.

“Are you two a thing now? Ugly suits ugly!” The purple haired girl yelled with her hands cupping her mouth. The four of them begin to laugh wholeheartedly.

“Shut up.” I said, coldly.

The four forms of laughter had stopped, their quiet expressions turning towards me.

“Your jokes are getting old.” I pushed past them, feeling a bubbling in my chest as I began walking back to my dorm, finally having enough of this fake life. I needed a break to get my life back together again.

I saw Analyn perk up to look at me, adjusting her glasses as I passed by her.

~~~~~

For probably the first time since I have become Princess Emerald, I decided to wear my uniform, much to the shock of the clique at the dinner table.

“Why are you suddenly wearing the uniform?! We NEVER wear the school uniform!” The blond girl freaked out suddenly questioning my choice in style.

“I hadn’t any other clothes to wear.” I said coldly, taking another sip of my soup.

“Oh my god…you MUST have a fever.” The red head held her hands in front of her, scoffing as if I had some unknown virus.

“Princess Emerald like NEVER runs out of clothes!” The purple haired girl added.

“I know right! Last time I saw your closet you had to use other people’s because your clothes wouldn’t fit!” The hyena added. “Also another reason why Analyn had reported you but STILL! I don’t even know why even decided to defend her today!” She immediately went back to what happened today in the hallways.

All four of them agreed and began jabbering me about how much I’ve changed over summer break.

Oh…if only they knew…….

As their voices began to fade in the back of my head, I stood up from my seat without a word, going to put my tray up before heading to the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom, splashed the freezing water onto my face, allowing whatever negative feelings I had to fade away into infinity. My mission was of first importance even if I hated every minute of it. I gazed at my reflection in the mirror for a minute and for a moment, I wished that my face was someone else’s entirely.

As I bowed my head down towards the sink to splash some more water onto my face, I felt a tapping on my right shoulder.

“Yes?” I asked, looking up to see Analyn right behind me.

She backed up a little as I picked my head up, noticing that I was a little taller than her.

“Um…I…I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for me in the hallways….and for Duke. Nobody has done that before.” She said though a bit shyly.

“Ah….” I grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and dried my face off. “It’s no problem.” I replied, as coldly as I imagined Princess Emerald would have said it before exiting the doors, though I couldn’t hold back a smile knowing that I was finally able to do something right.

As I exited the ladies’ room, I saw Prince Chaiya waving to me from the exit doors out the glistening cafeteria. He was with the rest of the roommates: Felipe, Duke, and Eric.

I smiled as I approached them. At least that gave me an excuse to get away from the rest of Princess Emerald’s friends.

“You should sit with us next time!” Chaiya sang as I thanked him for opening the door.

I turned back one last time to see the dubious reactions on the other four girl’s faces before I faced forward and walked back to the dorms with Chaiya, the first person who seemed to welcome me in this harsh world.

However, I turned around one last time to check on Analyn because I had believed that she sat alone. Contrary to my belief, I saw her sitting in a round marble table surrounded by a group of five close knit friends. They laughed and poked fun at each other, in loose and carefree ways that I could never imagine Princess Emerald’s friends could have interacted with each other. They were quite the opposite, destructive to one another with no room for true friendship.

As I faced forward finally, I wondered to myself if the true Princess Emerald, herself, had ever felt alone.

“Do you want to play some video games when we’re back in the dorm?” Chaiya asked me as we began walking.

Duke cleared his throat from behind us, turning us all around. “Chaiya, I believe you, yourself, have not finished your studies and neither have you.” He turned towards me, adjusting his glasses.

“Well….you can…SUCK ON THAT!” Chaiya exclaimed as we entered the dorm, using words that I wouldn’t expect any one in this dormitory to say except maybe Eric who snickered in the background.

“Tell him how much of a stuck up b***h he’s being.” Eric added.

“Y-You’re A STICK IN THE MUD!” Chaiya yelled at Duke as he grabbed two joysticks from the bookshelf in the living room, handing one to me.

Duke sighed as he head back to his room. “Don’t blame me for your procrastination.”

“Have you played before?” Chaiya asked me as he switched the TV on.

I shook my head. “N-no not really.”

“Well….this is an action game so you press this button to move forward, this button to jump, this button to move backward, double tap this button to move down from a level, this one to attack, and this one for your ULTIMATE attack!” Chaiya zipped through the instructions, a bit too fast for me. “OH MY GOD IT’S BEGINNING!” Chaiya exclaimed as the game counted down 3, 2, 1, BEGIN!

“W-wait which button was to move again?!” My heart began to race with panic.

“YOU HAVE TO MOVE FORWARD!!!!” Chaiya said, although he was busy with his own movements.

“Wait! I don’t even know who I am!” I yelled back. “There’s more than 8 characters on the screen!”

It didn’t take long for the words “DEFEATED!” to pop up in the gloomiest of fonts on the screen.

I sighed, thankful that it was finally over. I leaned back against the couch, feeling my heart rate return back to normal.

“Maybe we should’ve started out with something a bit easier.” Chaiya chuckled nervously.

“I think so too…..” I agreed. “It seems like a fun game, but I think I’ll need a bit more slower instruction to really understand what’s going on.” I added.

Chaiya went back to the main menu with a smile. “Let’s try going against the computer then.” He changed the game mode before turning towards me. “Do you remember which button is which?”

“Not at all.” I said. “Except this one was to move forward.”

We both laughed at the same time. “Alright then. This button is to move forward. And this one here is to jump. You got that?”

I nodded. “Yes. I understand that now.”

Chaiya continued to explain the rest of the buttons with me, one at a time, until I fully understood all the functions in the game. We played a couple of rounds against a computerized opponent, with some losses and some wins. All scores, however, had faded into the night as the late evening had approached and I found it harder and harder to fight off my heavy eyelids from my cheeks.

“We should get some rest.” Chaiya suggested, as he turned off the TV, ending off in victory. “Especially you at least.”

I rubbed my eyes with a yawn and nod my head as I stood up before heading back to my room. I turned around to find that Chaiya was right behind me as I had my hand on the door.

“Ah, my room is right there. I just wanted to thank you for playing with me.”

I smiled. “Thank you for being my first friend, even though I’m not the real Princess Emerald.”

Chaiya rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I-It’s no problem. It’s an honor actually. Usually, people don’t try to get to know me a bit more. Much less play video games with me.”

I smiled. “We can play again tomorrow if you want.”

“R-Really?!” Chaiya’s eyes sparkled.

I nodded. “But for now I’m a little tired.” I chuckled. “Goodnight.”

“G-Goodnight!” Chaiya bowed his head sheepishly as I closed the door, heading to bed myself.

“SUCK UP!” I heard Eric bellow from his room.

“P-pipe down!” Chaiya exclaimed back before I heard another door close.

And that was the start of my and Princess Emerald’s friendship with the Prince of Thailand.

~~~~~

~To be continued~